Places to eat in Moscow and St.Petersburg

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YAR [Мoscow, Russia]

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Founded in 1826. The old­est functioning restaurant in Moscow. In 1826, Frenchman Tranquille Yard (the D is silent) opened this establishment in the then-outskirts. Apart from truffles, which first appeared in Russia here, Yar is famous for its white grand piano filled with water with fish swimming in it and a price list for debauchery. Smearing a waiter’s face with mustard – 120 roubles, breaking Venetian glass – 100. In 1952 Yar was renamed Sovetsky and in 1998 changed the name back to Yar, but it never returned to its past glory days.

 

PARK [ Moscow ]

Ararat Park Hyatt hotel has one of the rarest qualities in Moscow — sta­bility. For many years, every Sunday the hotel’s restaurant offers one of the most impressive brunches in the capital. Every other Sunday chef of the hotel’s restaurant Guillaume Joly organises “themed” brunches dedicated to one product — oysters, cheese, foie gras, mushrooms, and asparagus. Apart from that, in the buffet there is an impressive choice of seafood, meat and fish delicacies, various dishes from Armenian, Italian, Japanese, French and, of course, Russian cuisines. It is a crime against confectionary art to ignore the magnificence of the dessert table, the responsibility of Frederic Guinot. Guests enjoy an open bar, depending on the chosen category: with wine or sparkling wine or French Champagne.

TURANDOT [Moscow]

Despite the traditional Sunday brunch format, Turandot restaurant offers late breakfasts on Saturdays too with Chinese, Japanese, Italian and European cuisines. Once a month chef Dmitry Eremeev organises themed brunches. The accent is on special products or regions, for example specialities from China or Italy. Apart from gastronomic interest and decoration, Turandot restaurant attracts guests with its entertainment programme for children with culinary workshops.

TALEON [ st. petersburg ]

Taleon restaurant, set in an 18th century mansion, offers Sunday family dinners from noon until 4 p.m. and brunches on weekends. Both options involve a plentiful buffet with snacks, hot and cold dishes and desserts. Chef Alexander Dregolsky, who cooked for Queen Elizabeth II, knows the secrets of both traditional Russian and French cuisines: stuffed quail, classic Olivier salad, duck breast confit. Brunch in his interpretation is a suite in three parts with fantasy accents. Light and exquisite.

L’EUROPE

[ st. petersburg ]

​Eating and drinking is easy under the domes with mosaic created by Leonty Benoit and in art-deco interiors. L’Europe restaurant of the eponymous hotel traditionally offers Sunday family brunches. The 30m long buffet table is full of delicacies, cold and hot starters, there is a salad bar and special live stations where chefs cook anything the guest orders in front of the client. Moreover, a “flying” buffet is travelling across the dining hall, delivering food right to the table. All of this is watered down with French Champagne and other open bar drinks.

 

Beloe Solntse Pustyni

[ ​Moscow ]

A visit to this restaurant requires some cultural preparation in the most literal sense. The decor of Beloe Solntse is inspired by the Soviet film of the same name ("White Sun Of The Desert"). For those who haven't seen the film, the "Free Women of the East" will just be waitresses in salwars and skull-caps, the launch Vershagin will just be a pointless piece of shipwreck, and the armed Red Guardsman will just be an unfamiliar soldier rather than the character Petrukha It's colourful but nothing like as much fun as if you get the references. The famous restaurant owner Arkadiy Novikov is not afraid of kitsch, probably in part because the food here is beyond reproach The kitchen is shared with the legendary-Uzbekistan restaurant, with the same choice of Arabic and Chinese dishes for those who want more variety. There is also the same Tashkent Salad of radish and meat, the same Naryn soup with iamb and horse-meat sausage, and the same kebab of black ram's tongue, for those who trust traditions.

Although Uzbek food is too rich and heavy to normally be associated with summer dining, it is worth visiting Beloe Solntse Pustyni at least once in summer to enjoy the restaurant's veranda, where peacocks roam free, cock-fighting is organized, and lamb is roasted on the spit. Guests who arrive early get not only the best places. but also an omelette of peahen eggs. The birds only produce two eggs a day. so the dish is not officially on the menu, and is only available for a lucky few.

29 Neglinnaya St., +7 (495) 625-2596

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